The sleek new AFAS Center for the Arts, located at the corner of Liberty and Seventh streets, will officially open to the public on Saturday, May 6. The local nonprofit organization Art for Art’s Sake (AFAS) commissioned the 14,500 square foot, three-story building, which was constructed over a period of 15 months.

The Center’s official opening will be celebrated with a public ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2:00 p.m. on May 6, accompanied by live music, food trucks, ARTivity on the Green mural wall painting and family activities, from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

This latest addition to the city’s burgeoning Arts District consolidates several AFAS activities and locations that were previously scattered throughout downtown. The building houses AFAS’ headquarters, as well as Red Dog Gallery, Unleashed Arts Center and Studio 2, a jewelry studio. There are also 10 artist studios available for lease at affordable rates.

The Center’s location – adjacent to ARTivity on the Green art park – extends the Arts District’s footprint into a previously underdeveloped area of the city.

Harry Knabb, AFAS chairman and chief executive, said the new headquarters underscores AFAS’ continued commitment to the Arts District and the city’s arts community overall, while also ensuring the viability of AFAS for generations to come.

ARTivity on the Green and the AFAS Center for the Arts have both been made possible via generous grants – primarily one from the Thomas J. Regan Jr. Foundation – and both projects have enlisted the professional skills of several local businesses; STITCH Design Shop and Frank L. Blum Construction Co. served as the architect and general contractor for both projects, respectively.

Public art installation by UNCSA lighting design students scheduled for April 4-8 at Merschel Plaza

“Reflections on Time,” the 2017 Winston-Salem Light Project (WSLP), is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday, April 4-8 at Merschel Plaza, located at the intersection of Fourth and Trade Streets in downtown Winston-Salem. The annual outdoor lighting installation by students in the School of Design and Production (D&P) at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) uses lighting and projection to visually transform architecture.

This year’s project is inspired by “Einstein’s Dreams,” a fictional collage of short stories by Alan Lightman exploring what might have been on Einstein’s mind in 1905 as he developed his theory of relativity.

“It’s an idea I’ve had in my back pocket for a while,” said Norman Coates, director of D&P’s lighting program. Coates founded WSLP in 2008 to expand the knowledge and experiences of his students using public art. Students apply concepts and techniques learned in the pursuit of theatrical design to architecture and public art.

Senior lighting design students each chose a chapter, or dream, they wanted to illustrate. Patrick Angle, of Columbus, Ind., chose a chapter about memory. “It’s the concept that things we take for granted as being permanent are not permanent,” he said.

Lorenzo Lagola of Calabasas, Calif., said his story explores the idea that there is no time – only images. “So many things happen that you don’t think about. In one moment someone dies but someone is born,” he said. “We are not defined by our construct of time.”

Coates said what began as a class project is now a year-long class. In the fall semester, students work with ideation and explore the concept. Spring semester is devoted to execution. In addition to their designs, each student is assigned a different role in the project, such as marketing, accounting, logistics or infrastructure.

“These are not something you ordinarily would learn in a lighting design program,” Coates said. “It gives the student experience they can take into their careers.”

During its nine-year history, WSLP has illuminated such downtown landmarks as UNCSA’s Stevens Center, the Millennium Center, and the First Baptist Church on Fifth Street. This year’s location offers spectators an expanse of lawn to relax and reflect. A soundtrack will accompany the display.

“We invite everyone to pause on their way to and from dinner, RiverRun screenings, or other events downtown,” Coates said. “Spend a half-hour or so and explore your own concept of time.”

In addition to Angle and Lagola, student designers include Abby May of Riverview, Fla.; Joseph Naftal of Great Neck, N.Y.; Connor Schwarz of Kernersville; and Matthew Tillet of Severn, Md.

WSLP is supported by a grant from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County, lighting equipment from Susan and Gilbert Mathews of Lucifer Lighting, and projection equipment from Cirque du Soleil.

By Rick Jordan || Winston-Salem Writers

Gnostic

That summer before the eighth grade, Lee and I met
at the community swimming pool
nearly every day.

We swam,
we dunked,
we begged fries,
we sang to the juke box,
we ranked high school girls,
we mocked awkward divers,
we dove for dimes at the pool’s bottom,
we talked about new hair under our arms and on our legs,
we splashed lifeguards until they threatened expulsion.
This was our summer life.

That fall, Lee drowned.

The newspaper said his brother and he were fishing
when Lee fell out of the boat
and, not knowing how to swim,
Lee drowned.

The next day, I went to Sunday School.
When the teacher mentioned the death,
a student said he was a good friend of Lee’s.
I knew he didn’t know Lee.

I said nothing about the death or the report or
our friendship.

That day, I walked home realizing I knew
truths I could not profess.

Trio

They were crib-mates in the church nursery
Sat through twelve years of school together
Ran side by side in endless track meets
Stood in each other’s wedding parties
Gave showers for one another’s babies
Vacationed the nation together
Shared tears as mutual friends passed and
Leaned on one another through husbands’ services.

Today they warm the chilled waiting room of the clinic –
A new school for old friends to learn
and race
and keep unspoken vows –
Till death do us part.

Unknobbed

This was the first dinner party
in our nearly-four-year
still incomplete
house renovation project.

Your children ate quietly, then tore through
the length and breadth of each room playing
hide-and-go-seek
in a brick ranch playground.

They dodged behind unknobbed doors and buried
themselves under hung pants
in the just-shelved-and-poled closets.

One counted backwards loudly
as the others charged off
intent on being the last
to hear the squeal of discovery.

I was embarrassed
that my house
was not yet complete.

You were embarrassed
that your children
were not yet grown.

If only we had thought to ask
if we might join the game,
we may have both found what
we’re all really seeking.

Rick Jordan lives with his wife, his cat, and a borrowed schnauzer in Lewisville, NC. When he is not working or writing, he enjoys his square foot garden, Americana music, and hiking the Blue Ridge mountains. Recent work of his has appeared in Eno Journal and in Poetry South.

Founded in 2005, Winston-Salem Writers is a group of writers who write fiction, non-fiction, plays and poetry, and who care about the art and craft of writing. They offer programs, workshops, critique groups, open mic nights, contests and writers’ nights out for both beginning writers and published authors. For more information, click HERE.